I just wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention that those retail fanatics at Checkered Flag have a book written about them now.  Aside from learning more about that organization, and where Alex Snyder came from, all the proceeds from the book’s sale go to charity:  the United Way to be exact.

James D. Power (JD Power and Associates), Jim Lentz (President of Toyota USA), Tom Purves (President of BMW North America), and Edward Lapham (Executive Editor of Automotive News) have all written praise about it.  Not bad for a group of dealerships down in Southern Virginia!

“We All Win” tells the story of a 12 year old boy who had the courage to leave his family in Poland to search for a better life in the United States.  He began the tradition of excellence in customer service, for the Snyder family, in 1894 when he opened a department store in downtown Norfolk, VA.  Three generations of Snyders ran the store, until 1969.  While running Snyder’s department store, Ed Snyder was also running Checkered Flag; which he founded in 1964.  Ed started Checkered Flag with British automobiles and introduced lines such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, MINI, Scion, and smart to the Southern Virginia market.  Today,
we think of Toyota as a sure thing, but it wasn’t when Ed was awarded the franchise.  You’ll have to read the book to learn more about that, and the ridicule that came with it!

The story is quite inspiring, and definitely worth picking-up.  There isn’t much about our side of the industry in it, but I think you’ll get a good idea of what fuels Checkered Flag to do the things they have done on our side of the industry.

You can buy “We All Win” on Checkered Flag.com or find it on Amazon –  We All Win (links to hardcover – there is a softcover edition as well).  The author is actually a reader of Dealer Refresh and has posted a few times – her name is Audrey Knoth, and she did a great job!  The photographer ain’t too shabby either.